Eat It

I should know better. Whenever AC drives to work and says, "Oh, just take the train to SSF so we can drive home together because when you get there I'll be getting off work," I should know better. He's been on time to pick me up at that station maybe once. The worse part of waiting is that it's v-e-r-y w-i-n-d-y.

So yesterday, I got to SSF at 6:20. I'd called him at 5:55 to say, "Meet me at 6:15." But still, no AC to be found. He didn't show up till 6:55. grrr.... Granted, he had to make sure everything was squared away before leaving work because he's in LA today thru Sunday for a bachelor party.

We headed to Target at Tanforan to run an errand, and because he felt bad, he let me pick the location for dinner. I said Fresh Choice because I wanted something healthy. Little did I know that there was one across the street! As we got out of the car, three big girls headed in...so AC said, if everyone in there looks like that, there's a problem. Ironically, he was right. There were several large people, including one that we luckily saw at the end of our meal because she made a great appetite suppressant: beige terry cloth hoodie [too small so her tires showed thru the material] and capris [that showed off not only her granty line but her cottage cheese!].

I hadn't been there in quite a long time, but the salads didn't taste so great. I had tabbouleh and some type of summer strawberry salad with spinach, and it just didn't taste right. Maybe my taste buds are getting spoiled at work, because the salad bar I frequent has locally grown items? And the last time I had tabbouleh was in my boxed lunch, from Andronico's, at our retreat, and it was sooo good that I want to go back and see if they sell single boxed lunches like that. The only tasty thing at Fresh Choice was the pizza.

Poor AC. Talk about a trooper, taking one for the team!

Take Me Out to the Ballgame

Last night, we headed out via train to hang around AT&T Park to soak in the All-Star Game atmosphere. Originally, I was to catch the 5:24PM train and meet AC in SSF. Unfortch, one of my bosses got very chatty and try as I might I couldn't escape her quickly enough. When I got out to catch the shuttle, one was just getting to the curb but another one was 2 cars behind it. However, there was a non-stop flow of traffic that prevented me from catching the second one, even though I waved at it to stop! I was so mad. When I checked the schedule, I noticed that the original shuttle I'd seen was so late it arrived at the same time as the 5:10. You'd THINK the 5:10 would then wait a couple of minutes for those who missed it! Sadly, that meant I had to catch the 5:54 train. AC told me to meet him at Millbrae instead, and that we'd just go home. I was so heartbroken--I'd gotten myself all psyched up for this adventure--that when AC saw how sad I was, he turned back to Millbrae after he picked me up and we caught the 7:01 train into the City. We managed to hang out by the Portwalk, but didn't get into the long line waiting to see the game. However, one of the security guys was nice enough to offer to take pictures of the game [or of specific players] for people. Once I download them from my camera, I'll post them here. Meanwhile, here's one I took on my phone of my favorite watercraft of the evening:

We didn't plan to stay too long--the first train home was at 8:25--but AC could actually see some of the players [oh, to be of average height] from the Portwalk gate and we took the long way around the ballpark, past the Media/Broadcast area and the Red Carpet--so we ended up catching the local train that left shortly after the game ended. At least we had seats this time. The fun part of the train was watching two loud, obnoxious girls [Giants fans, no less!] get kicked off the train by SIX cops! The other nice part of heading home was a much-mellower train crowd than that of normal games.

Make Me Sweat/Cool It

Today was our administrative staff retreat. Unlike retreats at former jobs, where we all sit around off-site for a day, coming up with goals that are rarely met, this one was different. We'd volunteer at a non-profit [in this case, Square Peg Foundation] and then have lunch at the beach. I felt very lucky that my colleague JL offered to pick me up since I lived on the way to the place. The only drawback was having to ride with The Girl Who Sighs. [She's a bit of an attention-craving drama princess.] But even luckier for me, when JL picked me up at the Park & Ride, only JW [the office hottie--JL is just totally cute and fun] was in the car! I didn't even ask why The Girl Who Sighs [TGWS] wasn't there.

We got lost heading out there [we asked for directions 3 times; the first two people we asked were no help, with the second of the two being a petite woman built like a boy], but with great company and Outkast playing, we weren't too concerned. In fact, we hoped most of the dirty work would be delegated by the time we got there, but no such luck. We were the second to last group to arrive, and after a not-so-clear introduction to the mission of the Foundation, we got to work. Here's a photo of JL:
The hat he's wearing actually has a Corona label on the front, but since this foundation works with kids, he thought it would be wise to cover it...with the only thing he could find: a Pride 2007 sticker.

Although one of the choices was gardening [which I'd picked at the risk of looking like the perfect stereotype], I ended up cleaning tack [wiping saddles and bits with soapy water] with TGWS and 2 other colleagues. We finished pretty early, so we were asked to help clean stalls...fortunately, while the others acted as pooper scoopers, I simply had to sweep the remaining dirt/cedar/dry waste out of the stalls. That meant while I was waiting to sweep, I could hang out with the African pygmy goats named Cinammon and Chocolate [and boy, are they well fed--they were fat!] and two cats.

As we stood around waiting for two slackers who were still clearing brush, we noticed that the backseat of the car I rode in was a mess--you couldn't even tell that I had ridden back there. TGWS said, "You could ride with me, since I drove all by myself..." I mumbled something about having all my stuff in the other car, and as I reached in to find something, JL leaned close and said, "You're not gonna ditch us, are you?" I whispered back, "Hell no. You guys are too fun to ditch!"

Finally, we headed out to the beach for lunch. It was cold and windy, as expected, but some of us still made our way down to the beach despite the treacherous climb [talk about team-building].

Only a few of us ventured down the cliff to the beach; the guys played catch [shirtless, no less...] and 3 of us sat on a blanket to watch after dipping our feet in the surf since the sun had come out. Around 3PM, after some good convo, we headed to the Pescadero Thrift Shop [where JL bought an Elmo plush big enough to be strapped in with a seat belt] and then the boys took me home. Since they picked me up at the Park & Ride, I thanked JL for not making me walk all the way down from there, and he seemed offended that I would actually think he'd do such a thing.

Tomorrow is the managers' retreat, which means most of our bosses will be out all day. Yay! I get to wear jeans again!

One Sweet World

Happy Live Earth Day!

AC and I took the train into the city to meet The Pear, Dilbert, Melissa, and MASF for lunch. Since it's All Star Week, the train was packed. We initially got seats near the toilet, but as soon as seats further away opened up we took them. They weren't better seats--the guy behind us kept yawning LOUDLY every few minutes and cursing the train, while the two kids across the aisle from him thought it was funny to say "so foggy" in an Asian accent, even after I glared at them--but at least it didn't smell, and we could no longer hear the girl who thought she was singing along quietly to her iPod [but really sounded like she was quietly weeping].

I made us late [only by 10 minutes] because I didn't think the T-third Castro stopped near the Ferry Building. We made it only 10 minutes late. The Pear looks like a suburban housewife already! She's gained a bit of weight and her hair looks pretty bad. Conversation was not free-flowing--thank goodness Melissa and MASF were there--and I found Dilbert to be as annoying as the last time I saw him. After we ate and talked, we walked around, and ended up at Sur la Table while Melissa and Dilbert used the bathroom. We took our time in there, and as AC was paying for something, The Pear and Dilbert announced they were leaving. I said something like, "I know, we're sort of fascinated with kitchen stuff," to which Dilbert replied, "No, you're just taking forever." !!!

As we all said goodbye, I pulled out my camera because I saw some cool stuff on the ground related to All-Star Week, and The Pear automatically assumed I wanted to take her picture--she actually looked crushed when I told her my true intentions...

(She's in a) Bad Mood

I've been battling what appears to be a sinus infection since last Wednesday. The doctor on call [advice nurses aren't around on the weekend] told me that Tylenol sinus should do the trick, and if I wasn't better by the end of the weekend, I should come in for antibiotics. Guess where I'm heading at 8:50AM tomorrow? (And in case you're wondering, Tylenol Sinus works great with vodka tonics, especially when said drinks are $5 for 2.)

I'd taken Friday off, so I dragged myself in to the office today because we have a couple of projects going on. My bosses are very perky, which in the morning I am not, and I'm even less so when I'm not feeling well. So that kicked my day off to a great start. At lunch time, I checked my phone in case AC had texted me. Instead, I was pleasantly surprised to see my friends were at the shopping center near my office! Though I was unable to meet up with them, even getting a mean text made my day:
EC: We're at Valley Fair! Hope you're having fun at work! Ha ha!
AB: PUNK. And I'm battling a sinus infection, too.
EC: Sucks to be who? you! ;)

Is that love or what?
..........................
The Girl Who Sighs was wearing one of her notorious "I think wearing a dress over boot-cut jeans is cute!" outfits today. As I passed her in the hallway, I said, "Cute top" but finished the sentence in my head: "For me to poop on!!"

I'm Not a Girl, Not Yet a Woman

I really enjoy working where I do. The only thing I miss is the camraderie, which I had even after the mass exodus brought in new folks. I've found myself in limbo when it comes to my current colleagues. There are 4 under-30s who all live in The City. [Bastards. Not one of them is a native.] Then there are two over-30s like me--but they are both moms, so they hang out a lot. There is one other under-30 who does not live in The City, but I don't have all that much in common with her, and her perfume does a number on my head. Plus, it's a little hard to understand her because she's a FOB.

Part of me wonders if this is bachi for what I inadvertently participated in when I worked at my last job: there were 3 of us who regularly went to lunch or had drinks after work, and there was one other person that could have hung out with us. The problem was, we never invited him because he was the partner of upper management, and I think that we were all afraid we couldn't be as open if he was around, for fear he'd tell upper management what we talked or vented about. After the other 2 moved on, he disclosed that he was hurt we never asked him to join us, and if he did, that we picked on him. :( Now I know what it feels like...and it's not nice. I'm very sorry.

In other news, it looks like there are new neighbors moving in across the driveway. [Our complex has 5 units, and a driveway separates us from 5 that mirror our units. However, each 5-unit complex is owned by different owners. There is one 2-BR unit on the ground floor, and the rest are on the second floor, above the carports.] They look like college kids, and the two girls are fat. They were kind enough to block the driveway with their mini U-haul--by literally pulling in to the entrance of the driveway, but not all the way in, so that people can't get in and out. Genius. I wonder how loud they'll be. I imagine if they are loud, their neighbor [they're in the end unit] will complain quickly. When we first moved in, he smiled and said hi to AC. I was right behind him so when I came into his line of vision, I smiled and said hi too--except his smile faded and he mumbled "hi" back... A few months later, he actually came up to AC and told him that the way he had parallel parked our second car on the street was not ideal for those parked behind us [which translated to "hey, i had to struggle to get my big ol' Tahoe behind you because my Miata is too cute to park on the street"].

Stay tuned for a follow-up on the neighbors--hopefully, there will be nothing to report.

Crush

In celebration of our ten-year anniversary, AC and I headed to Absinthe for dinner last night. When I booked the reservation, I mentioned the occasion and was told that they would see what they could do.

Upon arrival 15 minutes early, the maitre d' said our table was ready and seated us immediately. As he left our table, he turned around, leaned in, and said, "Oh, Happy Anniversary." Nice!

AC had the rib-eye steak [I had a nibble--I must admit, it was good!] and I had the ricotta dumplings [yes, I ate what little salame was on it]. For dessert, the plates were brought out with anniversary wishes! We were wished congratulations again by the maitre d' as we left.

I love you, AC!

Beautiful Goal

This afternoon, Joan Laporta, president of FC Barcelona, spoke at Stanford. I invited my pops to join me, since he is a huge soccer [especially Euro soccer] fan. The talk started at 4:30 but he got stuck in a meeting, and then traffic, so he didn't show up till 5:30PM! We decided to go anyway. To my surprise, the room was so packed that people were overflowing from the side of the seats to the door!

Mr. Laporta was so kind and humble--he agreed to numerous autographs [including one for each of us!] and photographs.

Pops misunderstood him at one point and actually told the guy he was an attorney, too!

Wine was served, which helped Pops act like a kid: when one guy was showing his friend Mr. Laporta's business card, my dad whipped out the card he got too and showed it off. When my colleague and I were lamenting that we expected Mr. Laporta to be taller, and my colleague said because she expected people with titles like that to be tall, my dad said, "I'm a vice president at C!t!bank, does that mean you expect me to be 6 feet tall?"

And it only got better. We had dinner at a Thai place afterwards, and he didn't realize he was ordering soup, and kept saying, "I ordered soup? Okay, I guess I ordered soup. I'm having soup, I guess!" as if the waitress took the order incorrectly! At the end of the meal, we got a cherry Jolly Rancher and a starlight peppermint. He asked for 2 watermelon Jolly Ranchers...no idea what that was about.

Never a dull moment with Pops!

Rest in Peace, Chris

The gentleman on the right, Chris, was the brother of one of my former colleagues. He started working as a student assistant for us in 2003, I think. He was cool. He drove a Mustang, and then decided he'd rather ride a motorcycle. He was a nice guy. Sadly, he was diagnosed with a brain tumor in December, and died this past Sunday, April 29. He was only 24.

Rest in peace, Chris. Tell my brother I miss him.

Keep 'Em Separated

During my lunch break today, I headed to the mall. I was on a mission: find the "Inferno" line of Tokidoki for LeSportSac in the mini size that I foolishly waited so long to buy, and find decently-priced, sensible black shoes to replace my black Naturalizer flats. The last place I hit was Nordstrom. As I walked through the shoe section, the piano selection sounded very familiar, but I couldn't place it. I kept walking, and started humming along...was it a female artist? It finally hit me and I smiled to keep from laughing out loud as a shoe salesman greeted me--it was the Offspring's "Want You Bad"!

Amusing Sight #3: As the rain steadily came down, a lady at the shuttle stop stood there with her umbrella closed, under her arm...it didn't look broken...Maybe she felt the need to be cleansed.

What Would You Say

Have you ever had a friendship that slowly dissolved?

I've been feeling this way about The Pear for a while now, and it feels like the road trip in October sped up the process. I've been feeling like I don't have much in common with her anymore. Once she got involved with Dilbert, it made it even more difficult to connect with her--he came along to all outings, and usually sat idly by reading the paper while The Pear and I caught up.

The Pear emailed me to say that she and Melissa were meeting for brunch, and wanted to extend the invitation to me although she'd understand if I didn't want to make the trip because of gas prices. I foolishly replied that we'd try to make it. Melissa kindly offered to give us a ride, and I completely forgot to call her back [we'd been running errands all morning]. She texted me that evening asking if we wanted a ride, and I texted back with an apology for not calling back and saying we'd take public transportation and see her there. Here's the fucked-up part: I had NO INTENTION at that point of making the trip. Why was I too chickenshit to say that something came up and we'd no longer be able to make it? Would it really look any better if I texted [not even CALLED] before noon to say "Sorry, can't make it after all"?

Some friends I feel like I can meet up with them months later and pick up where we left off, and make new memories. With The Pear, I feel like we rehash college [no pun intended], and then we focus on Dilbert's new goatee. Then...crickets in the background. The bad part about all this is the timing--I haven't seen The Pear since that road trip in October, and I gave a lukewarm response to her engagement announcement in late January. I sent a card, and congratulated her many times via email, but I just don't have the energy to even respond to her random "How are you?" emails!

I Wanna Be Sedated

So Sick

I've been sick since last Wednesday night. First AC arrived with a fever and body aches, and as soon as I joined him in the car I started coughing. Talk about an incubator. Nevertheless, I dropped him off at home and headed north to take my mom out for her birthday dinner. [Was that wrong? I hardly see her anymore...] By Thursday morning, I knew I wasn't well, but went to work anyway. I left my coat on the whole day, even though I felt feverish. Ironically, Art had driven to work in case he came home early, when in fact, he started to feel better. Finally, I took the train to his work and he picked me up from the station. It was crunch time for him, so I slept in the back seat for a couple of hours till I decided to drive home and simply go back for him. [Luckily, as a member of his commute club, he got a taxi voucher.] By Friday, I sounded like another person, and I took to bed till Monday morning. In the interim, when I wasn't sleeping, I watched:

episodes of M*A*S*H
"Transamerica"
"Mission :Impossible 3"
almost the entire season of "Top Chef"
last week's episode of 24

When I did sleep, I sometimes developed a fever, in which case I had the most BIZARRE dreams. Good ol' Tamiflu! In addition to that, I've been taking acetaminophen, cough syrup, a TON of Gatorade, and occasionally, some soup. I've also snuck in some Wheat Thins with a couple of slices of Manchego, but I can't tell you how hungry I am. I wish I could eat regular food. I'd love to devour some French pastries and a nice hot cappuccino.

The moral of the story is: stay healthy! Use lots of Purell! Drink lots of fluids! I'm down to 2 sick days and the nurse emphasized that REST will be key to my recovery. Yikes!

Hate

I've made it through the first three months of my new job. I like it a lot; it's certainly much better and more rewarding than my former job. However, one of my bosses is not only a micromanager but very demanding. She's nice, but yesterday the following lyric was stuck in my head:

Hate is a strong word, but I really really really don't like you

The song is about a broken heart, but I really like that one line. Anyway, the reason she was driving me nuts is this: Monday morning, she sends an email to me and my other boss saying she wants to meet to find out what is on my plate for my other boss, because she has THREE mailings she wants to get out before the holiday break. Um, the holiday break started today, Wednesday, which meant she wanted these things done in two days! Additionally, their boss told me that I could leave around 3 or 4 on Tuesday to start my break early. So Tuesday went like this:

Arrive at work at 8:30 because woke up late and therefore took the late train
Approached by bosses asking if I have lunch plans because they think it would be great if we went to lunch together [I did, but I didn't bring lunch so I figured hey, I can hit the post office and the credit union when I leave at 3, right?]
Meeting from 10-11
Left for lunch at 11:45
After lunch, one of them decided they wanted me to see this cool shoe store, so we wandered in for 15 minutes [mainly clogs...]
Back to work at 1:20
Got big check that needed to be processed today since we're closed till Jan. 2
Left work at 4:15PM

So much for starting my break early. I was shipping a b-day gift, and that's why I had to go to the post office. I figured, hey, students are gone by now, right? Oh, wait, the faculty! How could I forget they're still around? The line was hella long. When it was almost my turn, one window closed, so that prolonged my errand...time of departure: 5:15. Sigh.

But I can't complain. I'm off till January 2, and that gives me 3 days extra to squeeze in my Xmas shopping because I always wait till the last minute.

Merci beaucoup to all of you for reading this crazy blog. Joyeux Noel and Bonne Annee!

So Cruel

Thanksgiving weekend was a whirlwind. Thursday, AC and I had breakfast at a new place before I took him to the airport. Then, I went to my dad's. We sat around watching TV until we headed to my cousin's for a brief visit. Just as they were about to eat, we left for another dinner. It was really awkward.

Friday, I was in the City by 8:30AM. Mom and I headed downtown to catch the Adidas sale, which ended at 9:30AM. Afterwards, we hit Nordstrom and Macy*s. [Note to white women: "bling bling" is SO outdated. You should be punched every time you utter those words. It's like nails on a chalkboard.]

After dropping my mom off around 1:30, I headed home, packed, got an oil change, and headed south at 3:07PM. AC had kindy gotten me a ticket to the ND-USC game via craigslist! A solo road trip is very interesting, mainly because you have to amuse yourself. I sang along to whatever I wanted to; saw cows that were colored like cop cars at 5:02PM; and found a radio station that called itself "one-oh-sexy-point-three." I tried to drive non-stop but had to heed nature's call at the foot of the Grapevine at 7:45PM, crossing the LA County line at 8:07PM. I stopped for gas a few minutes later and was shocked to find myself in 36 degree weather! I hopped back on the road, eager to finish the last stretch. Alas, I dropped my damn phone while I was listening to iTunes, so I had to pull over in Castaic. I finally made it to Pico Rivera [where AC's sister lives] at 9:23PM.

The next morning, we were up by 6AM and at USC by 8:30. We parked and headed to ESPN Gameday's booth.
We found Krypto and hung out with him and his friends till our other friends showed up. [Got that?] It was very awkward, because Krypto's friends were very cold towards us. AC had met them before, and they didn't even say hi. He tried to say hi and they acted like they didn't see him. He'd warned me that they had made some comment loudly to Krypto about AC and the other friends eating their food. At the beginning of the season, they even had a talk with Krypto and told him they found some of his behaviour unacceptable last season! Why he continues to hang out with them is beyond us.

Anyway, I was really surprised by the tailgate areas at SC: basically, any open area that has a hint of grass is open! People tailgated in front of Engineering buildings as well as on a grassy strip of sidewalk near the Museum of Natural History's parking lot! The upside to this is that you can usually use the building's bathroom. This is the building whose facilities we visited:

Nice, eh?

Our other friends arrived, so we unloaded our car to tailgate with them, even though we had to cut through campus and cross the street. They had set up camp directly across the sidewalk from Notre Dame fans, so I was happy.



We'd heard that there was a Notre Dame tent set up with merchandise for sale, and luckily, the people who'd told us about it found us and led us to Irishfest. For $5, you gained a rally towel and access to an area primarily for ND fans, with a big tent o' merchandise, and beer & In-N-Out booths! Even the portapotties were blue:


Once we'd done some damage at the merch tent, we went back to our friends, who proudly showed me their purchase from the SC store. It was a red t-shirt with the Irish mascot, except his fists were the stupid two-fingered Victory sign and text that read, "If you can't beat us, join us!"

AC grilled some meat, which attracted the usual admiration and "that smells good!" [and, according to him, some little blonde SC fanwhore smiling and saying "Mmm, yummy!"]. Note how he's tenderly holding the 'tilla package:
I made myself a rum & coke, but should have eaten something first. The buzz hit me as soon as I stood up. That's when I noticed the ND cheerleaders and mascot had arrived, so I followed them back to Irishfest for the rally. I also got my face painted for a charitable donation to Hannah & Friends.



There were tons of creative signs and shirts, many referencing SC's felon alumnus [OJ Simpson]. One t-shirt read, "Catholics have no need for Trojans." And far too many heavy girls wore tight t-shirts that read "Got Booty?" [The SC quarterback is John David Booty.]

Finally, at 4:40PM, we got ready to enter the Coliseum. AC made sure that I sat with our friends so that I wouldn't be harassed too badly.

I quickly learned that SC fans are WORSE than my fellow Raider fans. That made it even harder for me to contain myself.

As we entered our row, people started booing me, and one guy actually pushed me [though not too hard]. Someone yelled, "Rudy was a Hollywood myth! He never existed!" Luckily, shortly after we sat down, attention was focused on a drunk girl who puked in the row in front of us. She was led out by her friend, but the people entering the same row were unaware they were stepping in puke...

There were a few other ND fans around us, and knowing that my mouth can get me in trouble, I lay low. Unfortunately, there was one guy who didn't know when to shut up. For starters, he was wearing a Celtics Larry Bird jersey. He was scrawny and wore glasses. I don't know what he was yelling, but the SC fans behind me kept saying "Shut up Larry Bird!" For whatever reason, he lifted the jersey to reveal a New England Patriots t-shirt, to which people started yelling, "Oh, a big sports fan! What a doofus! Siddown, four eyes!" And then he was called faggot several times, which really pissed me off, but I didn't say anything. I focused on being friendly to the fat, old, SC wetty fans next to me. They were telling me to "convert now!" to save my soul before kick-off. I'll spare you the gory details of the game, but the older white guy in front of me tried to high-5 me when SC scored and I flipped him off. Later, he said something else about Jesus [I am thinking it was in reference to Touchdown Jesus], to which I angrily said, "There is no Jesus." By halftime, things weren't looking good, and my friend asked why I made the bet with AC [details at the end of post]. I said, "To prove my faith in the Irish!" He said, "For faith I go to church!" To which I retorted, "There's no god!" Man, it's a miracle that lightning didn't strike me down at that game.

I took a photo of this little Domer at the concession stand during halftime:

I yelled profane word after profane word at the top of my lungs as the Irish let me down. By the end of the game, when the score was 44-24, the white guy in front of me again said something else. I was seething at this point, so as my friend leaned down to hug me in sympathy, I glared at the guy and said, "Fuck you, whitey." My friend hugged me tighter and whispered, "Be nice, now, be nice!"

After the game, I clung to my friend's wife so that I wouldn't get lost in the crowd [and torn apart by SC fans]. We returned to their car, where her husband thought it would be funny to hold the aforementioned "If you can't beat us..." shirt in front of me for a picture. I grabbed the shirt, and as he and AC tried to hold it in front of me, I clawed at them, scratched the back of AC's neck, and bit my friend [even breaking skin!]. There was NO WAY I'd get that thing near me.

That night, AC passed out, and I rubbed my ND facepaint onto his cheeks:











Needless to say, the drive home was a long one, especially when AC proudly pointed me out at Starbucks to another SC fan--he and two other guys looked at me while he said "Yep, she's a little disappointed today." As one of them walked past our car, smiling, I flipped off him and his saggy-boobed wife.

So the bet was this: if SC won, I'd eat meat whenever we go out for the next year. If ND won, then AC would eat no meat whenever we went out for the next year. I took the bet in stride, and ordered chicken at our Burger King pit stop.
I think AC feels bad, because he's been modifying the bet by saying that it's only when we have planned dinner outings, like dates, not on occasions where we are so hungry after work that we eat out instead of at home. But I'm not taking any chances. Crazy, maybe, but a die-hard Irish fan I am.

My Hero

Well, now I have two heroes: Oregon State and UCLA. Both teams beat USC this season, and the latter knocked USC out of the BCS Championship title game! I am so thrilled. FUSC!!!

Of course, that's even more so because of last week's pounding of Notre Dame. A post on that is to come, as I witnessed it starting with a tailgate at 9AM. I asked an SC fan if he'd rather lose to Notre Dame or UCLA, and he said, "Well, despite the fact that you can't really compare the two, I'd rather lose to Notre Dame."

Meanwhile, Stanford put up a good fight in The Big Game today. I was hoping they'd go all the way, but they fought hard. Here are some photos from the campus in preparation for the big game:
This is the fountain that's across from the Visitors Center.

This is across from the Bookstore. Note the bear impaled at the top. There was also red paint made to look as if the bear's blood was running down the sculpture.


















Meyer Library:




















This is the Arrillaga Alumni Center:




















And finally, I took this shot as I waited for the shuttle Friday evening. It's of Hoover Tower, lit with a red light.
I passed a football player on campus during lunch one day, and he was wearing a large button that said "I Believe. Big Game 2006." Maybe next year, kid. It was also interesting to hear people asking, "Why is the fountain pink?" I forget that not everyone follows football, much less big rivalries.

SIN WAGON

Last Friday, I accompanied Lolita and her rockin' mom to the Dixie Chicks concert. We took BART, which is always interesting--especially after monotonous rides on Caltrain. The first thing I noticed was the demographic attending the concert: lots of people over 60! and a good sprinkling of the LGBT community--holla!

When the lights finally went down and "Hail to the Chief" began to play, the three of us stood up, and stayed standing through the first song. An elderly man who'd left to get food came back to his seat, which was in front of us, and growled something at us about standing up! Lolita and I looked at each other in confusion--isn't this a concert? And aren't we behind him? To top it off, at the end of the song, the people behind Lolita [also elders] tapped her on the shoulder [as she was about to sit down] and asked her to sit down because she was blocking their view! I tried not to let it get to me, but I hate going to concerts where people won't let you enjoy freedom of expression when that expression is in the form of rocking out and dancing!

The show itself was more mellow than the last time I saw them, but I think they were still good. I still love Natalie--she's so spunky! They performed some oldies but goodies, and I was thrilled when they played "Cowboy Take Me Away" and "Sin Wagon." Towards the end, Lolita's mom was really enjoying herself and yelling "Whooo!" The guy in front of her looked at her funny, so she just "Whooo"-ed louder. Right on!!!

As we walked back to BART, I smiled at the sight of two gay men walking with their arms around each other. They had matching hats, black shirts, and black jeans with red fringe. Little did I know that the real party would be on BART! As we waited for our train, Lolita and I noticed a cute Clark Kent-lookalike. He was tall, thin and dark-haired, with dark-rimmed glasses and a button down shirt over a t-shirt and jeans. Very cute! Once we were on our train and noticed that he was on it too, four rather portly girls who were well-marinated got on. They decided that singing was the best way for them to ride home...so what at first sounded like little kids singing turned into full-blown drunken singing...a little "Sounds of Silence," a little U2, and others which we couldn't decipher. There was a European man who looked like he was going home from the airport sitting across from us, and my first thought was, "Oh no! He's probably thinking 'typical obnoxious americans!'" One man who was sitting about three rows up from them switched seats further up in the car, mumbling "I'm trying to sleep, man." They finally exited the train singing "Goodbye Earl." How appropriate...

Nice Guys Finish Last

This past Saturday, I attended Stanford's slaughter by SC. Granted, this shouldn't even count because Stanford hasn't won a game all year, and SC has barely won its games this year.

We tailgated with friends [no worries, I brought a Boca patty for myself with decent sides]. But I should have brought more alcohol.

There was an RV behind us that had a flat-screen outside and two more TVs inside. They had a sweet set-up, so Meathead quickly made friends to get some alcohol and watch TV.

There were a couple of decent-looking girls for our friend, Krypto, but he is waaaay too fearful of the 'gina. Meathead even got the perfect excuse for him to talk to one of the girls: she wanted some corn on the cob! AC sprang into action and threw another one on the grill so that Krypto could take it to her, with the little corn holders, too. Alas, he chickened out, and instead, Meathead took it over to her. Then the fugly girls started hanging on Meathead and AC. One was a middle-aged woman with "spackle" [the guys' description, not mine] for makeup.

Alannis sure knows how to do dessert!

Around 3:45, the fuglies started leaving for the game. Spackle walked past Alannis and me, and pulled up her shirt to reveal a pink flask tucked between her jeans and her fat stomach...I almost hurled. Sweet jesus! I should have brought the Southern Comfort to numb the pain of seeing that gut! And in addition to the spackle, she had some 1984 blue eyeliner, and her niece, whom she kept trying to shove on AC and Meathead, had some frosted pink lipstick from 1986, too. Typical SoCal wetty trash...

Once inside, we quickly realized it wasn't a sold-out game and therefore, we could sit in a lower section, closer to the action [or lack thereof]. We sat in the student section, and moved when Meathead and AC saw some candidates for Krypto:

We ended up behind some trashy USC students, one of which was seriously hungover--a perfect candidate for our friend, Krypto.


The only highlight of the game for me, the lone Stanford fan in a sea of red and gold, was the band, which is banned [ha ha] from playing on the field:Yes, that's a keg he's drumming on. And this year, it's a palm tree out there...check out the band leader:


Needless to say, once the "High school football!" chants started, I was sitting about four seats down from everyone, shivering from the cold and the embarassment. Everyone was taunting me and trying to high-5 [I responded with my middle finger]. Final score: 42-0.

After the game, we returned to the car to nibble on leftovers and watch the UCLA-Cal game on the neighbor's flat screen. At least Cal won. Meathead was so elated from the SC win that he didn't realize he sat on the desserts...

Talk about a sweet end.

Shoes

First, a sad observation: twice this week, when I boarded the shuttle and took my usual seat, I looked out the window and saw the same homeless man. On his feet are big slipper-like shoes covered in duct tape. I wonder if he has shoes under there, or if he just put something around his feet [towels? clothes?] and wrapped them in tape until they were as big as clown shoes. It was even more sad when he opened his mouth and I noticed he had no front teeth. :(

Now, a catty observation: when I was heading to the train tonight, there was a girl walking in front of me whose legs/feet looked odd...when I caught up to her, I realized what it was and made this observation:

Girls with "cankles" shouldn't wear wedge heels. Especially with a skirt and no stockings.

Happy Halloween!

I hope you're all enjoying my favorite day of the year--I like it even better than my birthday!!!

Amusing Sight #2 [I'll post #1 another day]:
As I drove past an emergency room, I noticed they offer valet parking! For $8!! I can picture it now: "My @nus is bleeding!" "We'll get you some help. Meanwhile, would you like us to valet park your car for only $8?"